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Status of Major Sport Fishes in Fawcett Lake, Alberta, 2003

Author(s)

Tyler Johns, Greg Fortier, and John Tchir

Summary

The present study was conducted on Fawcett Lake to generate quantitative data on abundance, population structure, and growth of four major sport species, walleye (Sander vitreus), northern pike (Esox lucius), lake whitefish (Corregonus clupeaformis), and yellow perch (Perca flavescens). A total of 963 fish were captured during the survey of which walleye was the most abundant, accounting for 39% of the catch and yellow perch the least abundant, accounting for 4% of the catch.

Mean catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) for walleye ranged from 13.39 to 13.60 fish/100m2/24h with a total CPUE of 14.04 fish/100m2/24h. Of the 360 walleye sampled, 38.6% were females and 61.4% were males, resulting in a female:male sex ratio of 0.82:1. Length of males ranged from 172 to 478 mm FL with a mean (± SD) of 371.8 ± 85.6 mm (n = 198), while that of females ranged from 162 to 582 mm with a mean of 380.0 ± 68.0 mm (n = 162). Males ranged in age from 3 to 16 y with a mean of 9.0 ± 2.5 y (n = 195) while age of females ranged from 2 to 17 y with a mean of 8.8 ± 2.4 y (n = 161). The overall mean age of the catch was 8.9 ± 2.5 y (n = 356).

Mean CPUE for northern pike ranged from 2.23 to 4.36 fish/100m2/24h with a total CPUE of 3.24 fish/100m2/24h. Of the 86 northern pike sampled, 54.7% were females and 45.3% were males, resulting in a male:female sex ratio of 0.83:1. Length of males ranged from 185 to 688 mm FL with a mean of 468.2 ± 88.66 mm (n = 39), while that of females ranged from 347 to 966 mm, with a mean of 550.4 ± 132.74 mm (n = 47). Males ranged in age from 2 to 13 y with a mean of 5.9 ± 2.0 (n = 37) while age of females ranged from 4 to 14 y with a mean of 7.3 ± 2.7 (n = 46). The overall mean age of the catch was 6.6 ± 2.5 y (n = 83).

Mean CPUE for lake whitefish ranged from 0.15 to 3.98 fish/100m2/24h with a total CPUE of 2.19 fish/100m2/24h. Of the 57 lake whitefish sampled, 44% were females and 56% were males, resulting in a female:male sex ratio of 0.78:1. Length of males ranged from 284 to 539 mm FL with a mean of 464.7 ± 53.21 mm (n = 32), while that of females ranged from 193 to 525 mm with a mean of 460.6 ± 70.46 mm (n = 25). Males ranged in age from 2 to 11 y with a mean of 6.3 ± 2.01 y (n = 32) while age of females ranged from 1 to 8 y with a mean of 5.5 ± 1.56 (n = 25). The overall mean age of the catch was 6.0 ± 1.9 y (n = 57).

Mean CPUE for yellow perch ranged from 0.00 to 2.03 fish/100m2/24h with a total CPUE of 1.43 fish/100m2/24h. Of the 39 yellow perch sampled, 85% were females and 15% were males, resulting in a male:female sex ratio of 0.09:1. Length of males ranged from 137 to 162 mm FL with a mean of 146.5 ± 10.17 mm (n = 6), while that of females ranged from 125 to 328 mm with a mean of 192.3 ± 64.93 mm (n = 33). Males ranged in age from 2 to 6 y with a mean of 4.0 ± 1.6 y (n = 6) while age of females ranged from 1 to 11 y with a mean of 5.0 ± 2.7 y (n = 32). The overall mean age of the catch was 4.9 ± 2.5 y (n = 38).